


Whispering words of long lost lullabies

by Zartbitterpoetin



Category: Layton Kyouju Series | Professor Layton Series
Genre: Abusive Parent, Angst, Family, Fluff, Gen, Physical Abuse, Siblings, Violence, but also a little bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-30
Updated: 2018-03-30
Packaged: 2019-04-15 00:39:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14148129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zartbitterpoetin/pseuds/Zartbitterpoetin
Summary: Sometimes, Theodore thinks back on the days before Targent, but the older he gets, the blurrier the memories become.Or; another Targent AU where all of the Bronevs are captured.





	Whispering words of long lost lullabies

**Author's Note:**

> Hey,  
> I have no clue what you say in the notes. This is my first english fanfiction and English isn't my first language so definitely feel free to point out any mistakes to me. This was written as a birthday gift for a friend and I'm usually not really in the Layton-Fandom... yeah.  
> The title is from "The song of the Sea", a beautiful animated movie with an even more beautiful soundtrack. I hope you enjoy this... Thanks for reading... *slides away awkwardly*

Sometimes, Theodore thinks back on the days before Targent, but the older he gets, the blurrier the memories become.

He sees a big house in the countryside, with old stone walls and friendly neighbors. He sees a garden full of flowers and maybe a cat, but Theodore can’t really be sure. There are so many stray cats here that they may have crept into his memories (Not that he will complain about it – he loves cats.)

In his memories, it’s always warm and sunny, even though he knows that that’s impossible. Everything is bright and the air is rich with beautiful smells, like the apple pie Mom used to make and herbs from the garden and something unmistakably home, a smell he can’t really define. Their parents are sitting around and drinking tea and talking about grown-up things, while he and his brother run around, trough the tall grass. 

In their new home they are not allowed to run – there are machines everywhere and the city is too big, their parents say. But sometimes, when Mom and Dad don’t pay attention, or aren’t even home, which occurs fare more often, they sneak out.  
In the narrow alleys they can’t really play as well as on the meadow at home, but there are many adventures hidden in The Nest. At least, that’s what Hershel tells him. Theodore still doesn’t want to stay here.

 

One night, and about two years later, Theodore witnesses a fight Mom and Dad have.  
He hides behind the door and peeps through the keyhole – he doesn’t have to stand on his tiptoes anymore and he realizes that he has now celebrated two birthdays here.  
He listens closely, but is only able to catch snippets of the conversation. 

“Rachel…said that you…”, his father says and his mother answers “…have to understand…not much longer.”  
Only the next sentence is loud enough that Theodore can understand it clearly, because his Dad is shouting by now. “I can’t lose you!”  
Something heavy settles in his stomach, because he has a vague idea what this fight is about, when he suddenly feels something touch his shoulder.

He whirls around and comes face to face with his brother, who is pressing a finger to his lips and looks at him warningly.  
“What are you doing here, Theo?”, he asks him in a hushed tone, while leading him away from the door. 

“I had a nightmare”, Theodore starts explaining and has to take a deep breath, before he can continue, “I was alone and you were all gone and everything was dark and there were monsters everywhere and I was so scared and then I woke up and wanted to go to Mom and Dad… but then I heard them argue, so I hid behind the door.”

Hershel presses his lips together and knees down in front of his brother.  
“Why didn’t you wake me?“, he asks concerned. Embarrassed, Theodore hides his hands behind his back and draws circles on the floor with his right foot. “I didn’t want to disturb you”, he mumbles. You looked so peaceful and carefree, he thinks. 

Hershel frowns and says in a firm tone: “You can always wake me up, alright?” Theodore nods in agreement and then curls his nose, when Hershel ruffles his hair. “And now we should go back to bed.”

 

Mom dies one year later and Papa will never be the same after that.

 

Even though both brothers share the interest in archaeology with their father, Leon Bronev gets more and more obsessive over time.  
The change happens slowly but the brother still have to stand by helpless as their father is slowly turning into someone different, someone colder and harder. He becomes more distant and starts rising up the ranks of Targent, often locking himself up in his office, when he is at home and leaving the boys alone, sometimes for days, when he is on another mission. 

Theodore would like to distance himself from the whole organization, but the brothers don’t really get a say in if they want to become agents for Targent, so they just get trained.

The training itself is pretty fun for Theodore most of the time actually, it also includes normal, regular subjects, but he starts hating Targent the more he notices it’s misdeeds. And while their fathers madness increases and his tolerance for anything beside his hunt for the Azran legacy, not to speak of other opinions than his own, decreases, the brothers grow older.

 

When Theodore is twelve and Hershel is fourteen, Hershel gets into a fight with their father. 

Sure, Hershel had argued with Father before, but it never went so far as this one, with them shouting at each other from the top of their lungs, insults flying back and forth and it’s the first time that Father hits one of them.  
It’s only a slap in the face, not even really hurting Hershel but still time seems to freeze for a moment.  
Hershel and Father stare at each other, then Hershel vanishes to his room without another word. 

They don’t continue the fight and for a while everything goes back to normal but about two months later it happens again. After that, their father uses violence with increasing frequency.  
Theodore gets his share of beatings because he won’t stay silent either, and the older he gets, the more he openly disagrees with Targent, but it never gets nearly as bad as the things that Hershel has to face. 

On the one hand, as the older brother he is seen as more robust and expected to be able to take more and be more “reasonable”, which really just means he should help Targent and start going on missions. On the other hand, Hershel is only spurned on by Fathers anger and doesn’t want to back down.  
There is a fire in him and on some days, Theodore is afraid that it will burn Hershel, like it’s burning their father.

 

Theodore is fifteen and Hershel is seventeen when everything changes.

The sound of blade on blade, again and again, and their heavy breaths are loud in the gym. For someone who doesn’t know Hershel very well, he would seem almost invulnerable, but Theodore notices his lack of sleep and the minor injuries of his brother – and uses them to his advantage.

Their opponents wouldn’t show any mercy either, he reasons and, okay, winning can also just be fun. A careless step and Theodore makes his brother stumble and fall down. His training sword is poking Hershel lightly.  
“I won, Hershel!”, he says and grins, then offers his brother a hand to help him up. Hershel scoffs, but takes the hand, while still breathing heavily.  
“But only because I’m still exhausted by my mission“, he complains and grins back. “Next time, I will win again.”

Theodore only laughs, shakes his head and is putting away the sword, when he hears a soft whimper from behind. He whirls around immediately and watches his brother closely.  
"Where are you hurt?” Hershel looks at him as if he has grown a second head and starts talking in a mocking tone. “Everything okay? Have you started hearing voices, little brother? Or-“ 

But before he can continue, Theodore interrupts him and walks towards him angrily. “We talked about this! If there is something wrong, you can’t just ignore it and don’t tell anybody.” He is now standing directly in front of his brother and repeats:” Where are you hurt?”

Hershel rolls his eyes and finally admits that he sprained his ankle. It’s only three weeks later that Theodore finds out that this wasn’t the reason for the whimper. Rather, it was the sudden memory of his last mission, where he not only hurt himself but also the wife of the captured scientist. And he still sees the blood on her face.

 

Something changes after this mission. Hershel starts disobeying orders and spends more time alone, distancing himself from everyone. The tension between Father and his brother grow stronger and Theodore knows that something bad is going to happen soon.

About four months later his fears come true. The brothers go to a Targent meeting where at least a third of the members isn’t there voluntary.  
Certainly not the two captured policemen in the middle of the hall.

And of course Hershel starts complaining and arguing loudly as soon as he sees the captives, which captures the attention of the commander.  
“Young man, I’ve heard about you. You don’t seem to care that much about yourself but your brother is very important for you. Well, now that I think about it, he is actually old enough for his first mission.”  
He now talks directly to Theodore, holding out a gun to him. “These are dangerous men, willing to kill just to prevent us from reaching our goal. We can’t allow them to continue with their dangerous agenda. Eliminate this threat.” 

After a second Hershel finds his voice again and starts shouting: “How can you-“ But their father interrupts him. “Be quiet, boy!”, he hisses and suddenly Theodore notices that everyone is watching them.  
The commander raises an eyebrow. "Before you decide, keep in mind that I have noticed how you and especially your brother often disagree with Targent. In your place I would use this chance because I don’t know if I will give you another one.” 

Theodore can say nothing, frozen to the spot and feeling like he is going to be sick. Some of the agents step closer and Theodore swallows heavily. “So? Do you take this mission?“ Theodore is still unable to speak, but he shakes his head slowly. Suddenly two pair of arms grab him from behind and he can see that his brother is in a similar position. The commander sighs dramatically. “Well, I hoped we didn’t have to do this the hard way”, he says and gives a hand sign. 

Suddenly too many fists rain down on him and out of the corner of his eye he can see that Hershel is trying in vain to get to Theodore. The pain just doesn’t stop and when one of the fists lands in his stomach he coughs and doubles over. Through the haze of pain he hears his brothers voice and he seems to cry and that’s when Theodore can’t hold his own tears anymore. 

“Please, stop!”, he screams and is asked if he is now willing to kill the men but shakes his head again. He will, he can’t kill someone. The beating starts again and the only thing he can do is to try to protect his head, while his world consists of pain. When it finally stops, he notices that someone is holding him.

 

Hershel is holding his little brother who is wrecked by sobs and just wants to protect him, while glowing hate is bowling in him. The commander had sighed and ordered the agents (finally, finally) to let his brother alone and Hershel had run to him immediately. “I thought he was ready”, the man says now and shakes his head in disappointment. 

Their father has stepped closer and looks at them with disapproval (and maybe also concern), but Hershel thinks that he can keep his fucking disappointment to himself. Carefully he helps Theodore stand up and tries to shield him with his body. “Come, we will patch you up at home“, he says, loud enough that it’s also a justification for them leaving the meeting.

They walk out slowly but after they turn around the corner Hershel starts walking faster. “What are you doing?“, Theodore mumbles. Hershel looks down on his brother were bruises are already starting to form and oh god, is that blood around his mouth?  
“We have to go away. We can’t stay here any longer”, he finally says. Hershel is a little bit surprised by the determined look on Theodores face and the following nod but he composes himself and starts explaining.  
“I’ve thought about this for a few months now and I’ve packed everything we could need”, he tells Theodore, who smiles a little bit and answers fondly: ”I know. You weren’t really subtle enough. My backpack is ready too.“ 

They both laugh, a bit desperately perhaps, and accompanied by a painful wince from Theodore and then walk as fast as possible to their home where they collect everything and are out on the streets again in only a few minutes. The streets are mostly empty and they manage to avoid the few people that are around. 

Since he started going on more missions Hershel had the keys to his own little airship which they now use to their benefit. They sneak into the hangar, start the ship and take flight before anyone can notice their disappearance.

Only when the city is far behind them they start breathing easier. “To London?”, Theodore asks. “To London”, Hershel confirms and hopes, that it won’t take too long because someone with medical experience should really look over his brother who looks very exhausted by now and is almost asleep in the passenger seat.  
But at least they are safe now.


End file.
